Improvement in keeps and braces for fifth-wheels



F. B. MORSE.

Fifth-Wheel Brace. No.-112,950. Patented Mar. 2 1871.

N. PETERS. PHOTO-UTNOGRAPHER. WASHlNGTON. D c,

tinned fifties fitment Wilt-1:2.

FRANCIS B. MORSE, or PLANTSVILLE, CONNECTICUT, AssIcNoR TO 13L D.

' SMITH & 00., or ,sA-ME PLACE,

Letters Patent No. 112,950, data March 21,1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN KEEPS AND BRACES FOR FIFTH-WHEELS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and maldng part of thesame;

To. all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS B. Monsn, of Plantsville, in the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inKeep and Brace for Fifth-Wheel; and I do hereby declare the following,when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and the lettersof reference marked thereon, to be a full,clear, and exact decription ofthe same, and which said drawing constitotes part of this specificationand represents in- Figure 1, a side view; and in Figure 2, alongitudinal central section.

This invention relates to that part of a carriage termed thefifth-wheel, and especially to the construction of the part called thekeep, that is to say, the strap or saddle which passes over thefifth-wheel and is secured to the perch, the object of the inventionbeing to combine with the keep, in one and the same piece, the brace,which extends fromthe perch below the axle; and the invention consistsin forming the keep and brace. in one and the same piece, joinedtogether in the center, that is, immediately below the groove withinwhich the fifth-wheel works.

A is the keep, formed with a recess, B, corresponding to the shape ofthe fifth-wheel, and so that when the keep is secured to the porch thefifth-wheel will turn freely in and be held in position by the saidkeep.

A projection is formed on the keep on the reverse side, and from this Iextend the brace O, and when de sirable I form a chamber, a, beneath therecess B, within which toplace a padof India rubber, or other material,to prevent the rattling of the fifth-wheel.

The brace O I make of an indefinite length, giving it by-preferencenearly the curvature which will herequired, and in this condition thearticle is ready for market.

The consumer welds to the brace 0 an extension suflicient to carry. theend of the brace beneath the axle to the point desired.

Heretofore the brace has been made independent of the keep, andbothsecured to the perch by bolts. By this invention they are both in oneand the same piece, facilitating the securingof the two to the perch,and preventing all possibility of their separating.

I claim as my invention- As an article of manufacture, theherein-described keep and brace for fifth-wheel of carriages, formed inone and the same piece, substantially as herein described.

F. B. MORSE.

, Witnesses: A

' E. E. PADDOCK, I ASA L. FOWLER.

